The college basketball season is far too young to talk about a team having its back to the wall. On the other hand, the University of Alabama, which dropped its season opener against Oklahoma in Dallas, has focused its season on getting off to a better start at home - and may have a tough opponent against which to do so.

The Crimson Tide, which may well have cost itself an NCAA tournament berth last season with three home losses to nonconference opposition, returns to Coleman Coliseum tonight to face a Texas Tech team that is off to a 2-0 start under new coach Tubby Smith.

The Red Raiders are averaging 82 points per game in wins over Northern Arizona and Houston Baptist.